After a marked increase in distribution events across the city, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria now reports that it gave away more than 40,000 pounds of pet food and supplies in 2020.
“We’ve had programs for years to support our neighbors and their pets,” said AWLA Director of Community Programs Joanna Fortin. “But in April or May of last year, requests for help really increased.”
Alexandria Police reported another shots fired call for service over the weekend in the West End, and there was also a serious crash with four cars in Old Town that sent two men to the hospital.
The shooting is the third in Alexandria this month, and occurred at around 5 a.m. on Sunday morning in the 200 block of Century Place in the West End near Holmes Run. Multiple shell casings were found at the scene, but no one was reported injured.
It was a short, but news-filled week in Alexandria.
With Monday off in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we started the week running with a COVID-19 update. Cases of COVID-19 in the city now stand at 8,975 and fatalities are at 99. That’s an increase of three deaths and 165 cases since Tuesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Alexandria Police are investigating a series of hit-and-runs that damaged cars in the West End last month.
On Dec. 13 at around 11:15 p.m., Alexandria police responded to the area of N. Van Dorn Street and Sanger Avenue in the West End in reference to a motor vehicle crash.
Police are currently investigating a body discovered in the area of Homes Run Parkway near Cameron Station.
Alexandria Fire Department spokeswoman Raytevia Evans said that around 9:35 a.m. they received a call and dispatched an inland rescue unit for the report of a possible body in the water.
Just after midnight on Dec. 21, Alexandria Police received a 911 call from a city resident saying that she could hear a woman screaming for help in the 2200 block of N. Van Dorn Street in the West End.
The woman in distress allegedly pulled out a knife when approached by police, and was then commanded to drop it. An officer used a TASER on the woman and she was placed in handcuffs, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Police confirmed last week that roughly one-third of the the shootings last year were connected.
In 2020, Alexandria experienced an increase in shots fired calls with a total of 55 confirmed cases as compared to 37 in 2019. One-third of those occurred last fall, between September and December.
The Alexandria City Council has chosen a hybrid approach as its preferred option for a Community Police Review Board. It’s a contentious move that, if approved next March, will allow independent civilian oversight over multiple aspects of the police department.
In a 4-3 vote last week, Council chose option “C” out of the four alternatives presented by staff. Each of the options will now be presented to the community in a two-month-long public feedback process that will ultimately lead to a council decision in March. The dissenting votes were cast by Mayor Justin Wilson, Councilwoman Amy Jackson and Councilwoman Del Pepper.
In an update to the City Council, Police Chief Michael Brown said many of the recent shots fired incidents in Alexandria are related.
It wasn’t exactly surprising news, given that many of the shootings took place in the same concentrated areas — two this month took place less than a block apart — but it was a rare glimpse into investigations where local police are keeping their cards close to their chest.
An Alexandria bartender wants the city to impose a 6 p.m. curfew on inauguration day on Wednesday, and has started an online petition that has garnered more than 375 signatures.
Erin Kennedy, a bartender at O’Shaughnessy’s at 1324 King Street in Old Town, didn’t like the feeling she got on the night of Jan. 6 when pro-Trump supporters drank at the bar and aggressively talked about how they participated in the siege at the U.S. Capitol.
The 14th Street Bridge going into Washington, D.C. has been completely shut down, and the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office and Police Department are among the law enforcement agencies that have blocked traffic on the bridge since 6 a.m. this morning.
“We’ve never been asked to do anything like this before,” Captain Sean Casey of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office told ALXnow. “We’re at the bridge right now. It was quite a sight this morning, because there was still plenty of traffic. We started at just before 6 a.m. securing and shutting down the bridge. You now cannot cross the 14th Street Bridge, with very few exceptions.”
